Rebecca Kertz - Her Forgiving Amish Heart

Can she forgive and forget—and fall in love?

A Women of Lancaster County Story

Leah Stoltzfus hasn’t forgiven Henry Yoder for betraying her family years earlier. But Henry is a changed man. And wants to prove it to Leah. Then a family secret is unearthed, shaking Leah to her core. Henry’s determined to support her in every way. If only she could leave the past behind and open her heart to him...

REBECCA KERTZ was first introduced to the Amish when her husband took a job with an Amish construction crew. She enjoyed watching the Amish foreman’s children at play and swapping recipes with his wife. Rebecca resides in Delaware with her husband and dog. She has a strong faith in God and feels blessed to have family nearby. Besides writing, she enjoys reading, doing crafts and visiting Lancaster County.

Also By Rebecca Kertz

Women of Lancaster County

A Secret Amish Love

Her Amish Christmas Sweetheart

Her Forgiving Amish Heart

Lancaster County Weddings

Noah’s Sweetheart

Jedidiah’s Bride

A Wife for Jacob

Elijah and the Widow

Loving Isaac

Lancaster Courtships

The Amish Mother

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Her Forgiving Amish Heart

Rebecca Kertz

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08434-5

HER FORGIVING AMISH HEART

© 2018 Rebecca Kertz

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

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“I was trying to make you mad.”

Leah jerked. “What?”

Henry’s lips shifted into a gentle smile. “While you were angry, you forgot about the storm.”

Her anger left as quickly as it had come. “You knew I was terrified.”

“Ja.”

She blushed. “I didn’t want you to see.”

The good humor left his expression. “I understand.”

Leah stared at him and wondered if he did understand, but she didn’t want to discuss her fear anymore, and she prayed and hoped that he would keep her weakness to himself. “You won’t tell anyone?”

He appeared confused. “About—”

“That I’m a coward and deathly afraid of thunderstorms.”

His eyes widened. “You’re no coward, Leah. A coward wouldn’t have run out into the storm to see her horse to safety.”

Leah blinked, pleased by his words.

“I’ll not say a word about today, Leah.” Henry looked sad, and Leah struggled with the urge to do something to make his sadness go away. “No one will know that you spend any time here with me in the store. Your secret is safe.”

Dear Reader,

I hope you’ve enjoyed visiting the Amish village of Happiness in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. I love writing about all of the wonderful people who live there. In Her Forgiving Amish Heart , Leah Stoltzfus meets up again with Henry Yoder, her cousin’s best friend. Henry got into a bit of trouble when he and Isaac were younger and on rumspringa , and he unintentionally hurt Isaac and others within his Amish community.

Leah never thought she’d marry. She’d never had a sweetheart or any man’s attention. She’d resigned herself to the fact that she’d only have her craft shop in her future...until Henry shows her the possibilities of what it could be like to have more...

If you enjoyed Her Forgiving Amish Heart , you may want to try A Secret Amish Love , Leah’s sister Nell’s story, and Her Amish Christmas Sweetheart , about Leah and Nell’s sister Meg, the middle daughter of Arlin and Missy Stoltzfus.

I hope you will continue to join me as I return time and again to Happiness where the Amish love, learn and raise children while being faithful to the Lord.

I wish you blessings, good health and much love.

Warmly,

Rebecca Kertz

Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord.

—Proverbs 18:22

For Judith E. French, my dearest friend and the sister of my heart. You touched my life in ways you’ll never know. Thank you for everything. Our friendship of nearly thirty-six years has meant a lot to me. May you rest in peace, dear Judy. I love you.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Dear Reader

Bible Verse

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Epilogue

Extract

About the Publisher

Chapter One

Late spring, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

She felt the first drops of rain as she steered her horse-drawn open wagon home after a visit to her friend Mary. Leah Stoltzfus sighed as she reached under the carriage seat for her umbrella. She probably should have headed home hours ago, but it had been so nice to spend time with Mary, who’d fallen in love and married Ethan Bontrager before moving into the house her husband owned in New Holland two years ago.

The light drizzle turned into a shower as Leah pushed open the umbrella while she continued to steer her horse. The patter of rain on fabric was soothing, and she smiled as she made a left turn. She was still miles away from home, but the downpour didn’t bother her. Until suddenly the wind picked up, so strong that it turned the umbrella inside out, ruining her rain covering beyond hope. She cried out when a gust tore off her prayer kapp . She tried to catch it, but it was a lost cause. When a sharp clap of thunder followed a bright flash of lightning, she knew she was in trouble. She needed to find a safe place to wait out the storm. She sent up a silent prayer that the Lord help her to find shelter soon. She had been terrified of thunderstorms since being caught in a severe one as a young child.